[Flashback]

Personal taste issue, I enjoy Pierce Brosnan’s take on cliched-iconic James Bond. So no surprise to find me watching his series again only a few weeks ago.

That scene with the laser-zappin’ robot - it never crossed my mind (perhaps for not the fourth time) the robot was a real industrial device - till I read this 4-yo press release.

Consider it re-released:

The decision to choose KUKA robots for "Die Another Day" was based not only on the robots’ manoeuvrability and exceptional good looks, but also on the speed with which they could be installed and the professional design and support package combined with the highest quality.

KUKA Roboter is delighted to be cooperating with the Bond team and actors Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry in one of the boldest and most imaginative productions making use of robot technology in film history to date, which is providing KUKA with a promising springboard into the entertainment industry.

KUKA Roboter GmbH is a company in the IWKA Aktiengesellschaft and ranks among the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial robots, and in 2001 output in excess of 7,300 robots.

Yowsers.

Under the sharpest knife in the drawer

CyberKnife in action is one of the world’s most impressive and awe-inspiring robots. In full flight he resembles a waiter waving a tray of human hors d’oeuvres and brandishing a beautifully sculpted bottle of the best white sauce .. no, wait, that’s his head and he’s eyeing the appetizer, err, human, unnervingly.

"Driven by intelligent robotics" - not, unfortunately, a brilliant surgeon and great conversationalist, but at the very least penultimate feedback:

A complete, intelligent robotic system that constantly images, analyzes, tracks, and corrects .. both referencing skeletal data AND allowing for respiratory motion.

‘Corrects’ - that sounds good.

The ‘awesomeness’ derives from knowing this is a surgical robot, delivering minute and supremely accurate little death rays to evil cancerous invaders within the patient.

If you’re smarter than this editor (that’s most of you) and frustrated by dumb-downs, here are some links to med-PR, so knock yourselves out:

Accuray’s CyberKnife FAQ

Spine-tracking system ensuring millimeter accuracy: Xsight

Allowing patients to breathe normally: Synchrony

CyberKnife in action ** Since I couldn’t play them from Accuray’s site, even with Windows MP11, try these videos at the CyberKnife Society website.

Accuray Incorporated, announced (May24, 2006) clinical study results demonstrate CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System effective option for prostate tumors. Ref: Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences at American Urological Association (AUA) 2006 Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

Common treatment options for prostate cancer include surgery or hypofractionated radiation therapy - both invasive procedures requiring hospital stays, while CyberKnife’s System is a minimally invasive out-patient procedure.

.. put no foot wrong

Ossur - developer of scientifically advanced orthopedics - has launched a new website dedicated to exploring the present and future of bionics, as well as the significant role played by its Bionic Technology platform

Ossur’s artificial limbs include RHEO KNEE™, which combines artificial intelligence with microprocessor technology, and POWER KNEE™ "a prosthetic knee system so smart that it automatically adapts to an individual’s walking style and environment, learning continuously and optimizing control over time."

The RHEO KNEE is the world’s first microprocessor swing and stance knee system to utilize the power of artificial intelligence. Capable of independent thought, it learns how the user walks, recognizing and responding  immediately to changes in speed, load and terrain."

Needless to say, orders are flooding in from Terminators damaged during the filming of those movies.